Fast access to the Internet. Many products and services advertise fast access to the Internet, and many deliver fast access, but only after the customer has been provisioned and otherwise set-up to receive and connect to the services for appropriate interface with the Internet. The actual “provisioning” and related operations to get the customer set-up for Internet access may be anything but fast access. In fact, setting up a customer for connection to the Internet is often done manually and piecemeal, which is rather ironic given the technology being provisioned. This manual and piecemeal provisioning generally includes an element-by-element review and execution across the various networks by the appropriate service representatives. For example, a customer subscribing to ADSL service must be provisioned with the ADSL service by the ADSL service provider. The customer then is connected typically through an asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) switch and an Internet service provider (ISP) or network service provider (NSP) for ultimate access to the Internet (or other global communications network). For each element in the network(s) necessary to connect the customer to the Internet, appropriate service representatives typically check such facts as whether the element has the capacity to serve the customer's needs, whether the element is connected appropriately to other elements necessary to the service, whether the element may properly interface with the other necessary elements, etc.
Why is the provisioning of a customer's service often done manually and piecemeal? Because there generally has been no other way to accomplish connection of a customer to across networks or cross domains to the Internet. An example best demonstrates this manual and piecemeal provisioning. A first service representative doing the provisioning for the customer's ADSL service plots a path for the customer's communications from a beginning at the customer's terminating unit (TU) through elements across the ADSL network to the point where the path crosses over to another network or domain. At that cross-over point, another service representative takes over from the first representative and continues plotting the path through his or her “territory”. This hand-off of the path plotting continues until the path is completed to an end at the ISP or NSP providing the ultimate connection to the Internet.
The plotting of the path from the customer's TU to the end connection to the NSP or ISP is further complicated by the path consisting of a permanent virtual circuit (PVC) (also referred to as a permanent virtual connection). Each link between elements in the path from the customer's terminating unit to the NSP must first be determined, cleared and/or configured, if necessary, and otherwise set up to service the customer as part of the PVC. Each link in the path may differ from the other links as a result of the type, placement, use or other feature of the respective elements that are linked in the path. For example, a link may connect elements from two different vendors. Further, the determination of a path for the customer's service is complicated by the traversal of the path across more than one type of network. The disparate networks add to the complications in determining a path because the networks may operate in respective protocols, or otherwise differ from each other so as to make determination of the path across the networks difficult.
Thus, the provisioning of the customer's connection to the Internet requires appropriate service representative(s) to determine the segments making up a path for the customer's service by proper element-by-element linking from the customer's terminating unit to the NSP serving the customer. This element-by-element linking may be confusing or at least complicated, and therefore, is time-consuming and slows down the customer's access to the Internet or other global communications network.
Accordingly, there is a need for methods and systems that allow for the efficient, cost-effective, and speedy provisioning of a customer for services such as DSL service and the like, that connect the customer to the Internet or other global communications network.